Ok, well like most people writing an online diary/journal, I started out all full of the fires of enthusiasm, and then petered out. After only two posts, nogal.

Anyhow, I have been very busy recently, I was in Durban yesterday, training staff, and tomorrow it’s Bloemfontein. However, the main reason I think I haven’t updated is because I don’t have an internet connection at home, which means I have to plan my postings, not exactly ideal.

And why don’t I have home Internet? Well, because the options in South Africa are pretty limited on this point.

I can go for dial-up, which charges per call, and I would have to have a land-line installed, something I don’t have any other use for.

I can go for ISDN, which is even more expensive, and I would still have to pay per use.

I can go for ADSL, which is more expensive in South Africa than pretty much anywhere else, mainly due to Telkom’s desire to have people sign up for the more lucrative ISDN, and protect their margins.

I could also opt for the new MyWireless, from Sentech, which is a proprietary wireless system, IPWireless, and looks pretty good, except for the fact that it is a) proprietary technology, whcih nobody else appears to use (and I remember Sentech/SABC’s analogue satellite fiasco), and b) it requires me to sign a 24 month contract. The 24 month thing is a big issue, since the industry is being deregulated even as we speak, so I am unwilling to tie myself down to two years of technology that may be overpriced and obsolete in two months.

So, that was a rather long-winded and convoluted excuse for why I don’t update more often, sorry.